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Sunday, March 26, 2006

Sectarian Trouble in Iraq: An Unpleasant Story

I struggled with whether to even post this here, and decided I should if only in the name of brave journalism. It's a New York Times portrait, anecdotally told (because the officials wouldn't talk), of what's going on with sectarian revenge killings in Iraq. This is a direct consequence of the neoconservative belief that we were sending enough troops into Iraq to make the postwar environment safe for the whole country. Because Donald Rumsfeld wanted to make a theological point about troop levels, people are now getting killed with drills. Militias are taking over in Iraq, pure and simple. We had our chance to prevent the worst of this and it didn't happen because the administration simply cannot and will not face reality. It won't happen. They're convinced they're right every time the say something. A lot of the talk about the politicization of the war, what America "should do," whether the Sunnis and Shiites can cooperate -- it all sounds a little scary and hollow when you read pieces like this one.

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My "crazy" conspiracy theory: The Shiite shrine in Ramallah was bombed by the US in an attempt to radicalize certain shiite groups. The real story in Iraq is Mahmud al-Sadr and the continuing headlines that bludgeon us with the truth: if the objective is US cooperation with Iraq, this war is lost. From Democracynow.org:

Iraqi Accuses U.S. of Massacre At Shiite Mosque

Iraqi officials are accusing the U.S. military of massacring at least 16 Shiite worshippers during a raid on a Shiite mosque Sunday night. The Guardian newspaper reports the killings have opened the biggest rift yet between the United States and Iraqi Shiites. Shiite leaders have suspended talks over forming a new Iraqi government. Iraq’s Interior Minister called the U.S. raid unjustified and horrible. The leading Shiite governing alliance is urging the U.S. to return full control of security to Iraqis. The Baghdad provincial governor has suspended all cooperation with U.S. forces. "The occupiers should be bought to account for this despicable crime,” said Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Shwaili. “It is committed by the occupiers against unarmed worshippers and we urge the Iraqi government to take an honest and positive stand towards this vicious attack against Islam and the worshippers Despite the political outcry, the U.S. military defended the raid on Monday. One official described it as a "hugely successful" operation against an insurgent hideout. The U.S. has denied its troops killed any Iraqis and said the massacre was staged.